Par for the course, reminds me of the "Carmelo gets a lot of points, but he is a terrible shooter!"

This was even though Carmelo had one of the best FG% for a non-center/PF.

I didn't say he was a terrible shooter just that he takes a heck of a lot of shots to get his points along with Iverson. There are 12 G's or SF's ahead of Carmelo on the FG % and Carmelo did shoot lights out down the stretch of the season after I made the comment to raise his % up.

With my 5th pick, I will take: Scottie Pippen- I know many of you don't think he belongs on the 50th greatest list, but you can't argue with numbers/rings. Not to mention all of the defensive accolades. I don't know about the rest of you, but I would love to see Pippen matchup v. Lebron when both are in there primes, not saying Pippen is a better player by any means just saying he could guard him a lot better than someone like Bruce Bowen.
Scottie Pippen:
One of the most versatile and talented players, 6-7 Scottie Pippen orchestrated an offense like a point guard, rebounded like a power forward, scored like a shooting guard, and defended on the perimeter like few others. The seven-time All-Star was a vital component of the Chicago Bullsí six NBA Championships in the 1990s. He played 17 seasons missing the postseason only in his final campaign, which allowed him to rack up the second most playoff game appearances (208) behind only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. But above and beyond, his all-around game was the prototype for the next generation of small forwards.

GS, it's not a bad pick at all. I personally wouldn't have him in the starting 5, but from a team stand point, I had him targeted as my first guy off the bench.

Love the 8-time 1st team defenses, and obviously a great second fiddle to another superstar. I was hoping he'd be there next round. I don't think he's top 50, you're right... But he's a quality selection.

Rhyme I was between Pippen & C. Mullen for my SF, and thought that I already have the scoring with the pistol & wilt, so I went for the all round player. This draft will get very interesting when we start getting deeper in to the bench.....

Rhyme I was between Pippen & C. Mullen for my SF, and thought that I already have the scoring with the pistol & wilt, so I went for the all round player. This draft will get very interesting when we start getting deeper in to the bench.....

Indeed! Like I said, I would have scooped him up next round without a second thought.

And yeah, everybody is going to have a great starting 5. There will be differences, but almost every starter is/will be in the HOF and shatter records. The wins and losses would come from the quality picks in round 6 and later. It's going to get very interesting.

We can speculate but I know a 6 1 G from the 50's would struggle against todays bigger, stronger and faster athletes.

Well, the way I'm looking at it, I am supposing that all of these players are available to draft, right now, in 2007. They're all 21 years old and they all have had the advantages athletes have when growing up in the late 20th century. (Except for steroids. lol)

I think that evens the playing field a bit and lets us consider players from previous era more.

And to your 6'1 argument, Mugsy and Spudd were able to keep up, right?

I knew a quality big man would drop to me if I waited. Bob Lanier was a dominating presence in the NBA for 14 seasons. 6'11", 265 pounds, his size 22 sneakers preceded him into the NBA Hall of Fame as the largest seen in the League up to that point.

The first overall pick in the 1970 Draft, Lanier employed a physical playing style and a deadly left handed hook shot to average 20.1 points and 10.1 boards on his way to eight All Star appearances.

Lanier played his entire career in pain for an inept organization. Despite tearing a knee ligament in the NCAA tournament, the Pistons happily took him with the first pick in the draft, even signing him to his rookie contract while he recuperated from knee surgery in a hospital bed. Feeling pressured to play right away, the Pistons rushed Lanier onto the court. He responded by leading them to their first winning season in 13 years, while playing in all 82 games. His willingness to play hurt was well received in the blue collar town, so was the 14 game improvement over the previous season, and Lanier was loved in Detroit.

Unfortunately, the Pistons were almost incredibly poorly run. During Lanier's 10 seasons in Detroit he played under eight different coaches. "There were always different ideologies," Lanier said, "different philosophies and styles, different players. It was a constant adjustment."

By the time Lanier was traded to a solid Milwaukee team in 1980, chronic knee pain had robbed him of most of his mobility. Perhaps a younger Lanier could have pushed the Bucks of Marques Johnson and Sidney Moncrief past Philly and Boston, but his time as a premier player was just about over.

Although a championship was denied him as a player, Lanier always carried himself like a winner. Few athletes in league history have worked as hard as Lanier has for charitable endeavors. He was almost universally respected. During his final years, Lanier was voted president of the NBA Players Association by his peers.

In 1989, Lanier became involved in the launching of the NBA's Stay In School program, a nationwide campaign in which the NBA and its players urge middle school students to complete their high school education. Lanier became the program's national chairman, visiting hundreds of schools across the country and delivering his famous "PRIDE" message.

Not if, but when is right on. He'll go. Too good of a defender and too good of a rebounder not to.

Plus, he was the kind of basket-case you can live with. Yeah, crazy, but never affected his play on the court, not that I can remember at least. No lengthy Artest-like suspensions or drama, if I recall correctly.

To finish up my starting lineup I go with another young gun that is too hard to pass up. He is an absolute playmaker teaming him with Dwade is pretty much aweseom. Phibacke31 chooses: SF: Tracy McGrady: TMAC

Well, I thought about waiting for this dude, but I just dont think that he will be overlooked for another round. I will augment the squad with the greatest coach in the history of the NBA, and the model for every coach since. His teams are legendary. It only makes sense that I draft the all-time championship leader to pilot my all-time champions Russel, Cousy, and co.

The coach of the NBA's greatest dynasty, and one of the great motivational coaches of any sport in American history:

RED AUERBACH

(from wikipedia)
Coach Auerbach was no great strategist; he believed in fast-break basketball; he knew that he needed at least one great rebounder and an outstanding point guard; and he knew the value of defense. But the Celtics ran very few offensive "plays" and Auerbach did not make strategic breakthroughs.

His forte was in recognizing talent, assembling a group of very fine basketball players, molding them into a unit and then motivating them. Winning was everything to Red Auerbach and he made his players see that everything he did was designed to win. He could be callously cruel at times, or extremely generous. But his obsession was with winning; all the tricks, all the goading and screaming was to support this goal.

In addition to an unparalleled coaching career of his own, Auerbach has the distinction of seeing three players whom he coached to championships, Bill Russell, Tommy Heinsohn and K.C. Jones each in their own time, coach the Celtics to championships. Don Nelson, who also played for Auerbach's championship team in the 1965-1966 season (Auerbach's last season), has also had a successful career as an NBA coach.